Tiltable ball game table



July 24, 1951 J. B. RlsHEl. 2,562,126

TILTABLE BALL GAME TABLE Filed March A7, 1947 l ,.5 /0 h fed /2d7(nd/feb L? l) l @il 1 w /fc d g g /ec A, b 370 W @f E "Hf bq 120 ad: I 2n: @fa 12% :35" 2 C D 3) y u E (Q1- I? WP IP I m :im

Patented July 24, c1951 PATENT OFFICE A y TILTABLE BALL GAME TABLE-James B. RisheLDayton, Ollio, assignor of -f twentyum, ohio five percentto WalterBecker, Day- Application March 7, 1947 serial No. 733,041

claims. (c1.

sons and in which the object consists in, .moving a ball or the likefromone end oilfthe board .or table to a predetermined point at theothenend, of the table while various obstacles are placed in the path ofthe ball to bel moved. r,One of the. best known games ,of this typeisthe so-called pin ball machine in which a plunger on one side oftheboard pushes a ball `tofone end of an' ine.` clined board from where theball rolls to the other end of the board ,while hitting variousobstacles onits path. However, the drawback of vtliistype of gamesconsists =in that once`jthe ball starts its movement on'the inclinedboard, it is com@ pletely out of the players control and thus doesnotgive him full satisiaction l,

i Itis, therefore', van object of this invention toV provide a game ofthe board or table type which will overcome the above mentioneddrawback.

It is another object of this'iriveriticfn'il to provide a game of theboard or table typ? Which-'will permit to'tilt the board or table atwill`in :at leas't one direction. j j y' jj'A further object oftheinventiobnsists the provision of `a game 4of the 'above` mentioned' typein which the table or board isy jtiltable in lon-` gitudinal directionaswell as intransversedirec# tion thereto. e y "f'Still another"l objectofthis invention consists in the'provision 'of a game'ofith'board ortable type having obstacles mounted thereon some' of' which areeffective in one direction while other obstacles are effective in 'the'f 1op'plosite*direction only, means being providedoperable to limit thetilting movement in a "l ongitu'dina lf direction of.' the table orboard "so that onlyf oneend can' be" tilted fromthe hrjizomaipia'neunwardiy. `It is a still further object' of` this invention to;provide a 'game as set forth in thefpreceding paraj-` graph,xin whichthe` lim itati on o ffithe tilting movement of thev board or tablejinlongitudinal direction is broughtabout.automatically but canvselectively be applied to either end of the boardv ortable. These vand,other objectsand advantages of the invention will appear ,moreclearlyirom the following description in' connection with the accomlpanying drawings in'which:

Figurel 1 is a topview .of tothe present invention.

Figure i2 is a :,longit din thev accordingE vFigure represents an endview of the game according to the invention, said view being taken alongthe line 3-3 of Figure l.

Figure 4 is a section along the line Figure 2.

7Figure 5 represents a section along the line 5-#5 of Figure 2, and

` Figure 6 shows a partial side view .of the device according totheinvention, while the play board isin one of its inclined positions.

Referring now to `the drawings, the structure field. As will be clearfrom Figure 1, the obstacles I Ia, I Ib, I Ic and I Id are effective inone direction as. protection `for the goal II, whereas the ob staclesI2a,':I2b, 12o and 12d are effective in the opposite direction asprotection for the goal I2. The board I0 is provided withears I3 and I4(see Figure 4,) which are pivotally connected by meansof pivots I5 andI6 with across-shaped member generally designated'by the referencenumeral I1. Thiscrosseshaped member I1 is providedwith hinge portions I8and I9 arranged at a right angle to the ears I3 and I4 and is p ivotallyconnected by means of pivots 20 and 2| to hinge portions 22 and 23respectively. Thus, the pivots I5 and II allow the play board to tiltabout the axis dened by said pivots, whereas thepivots 20. and 2| allowthe play board I0 totilt Aabout an axis transverse to the axis definedlby the pivots I5 and I6. e

The hinge portions 22 and 23 form a part of a support'2`4 which,according to the structure,

showny in thedrawings, mayrest on a table 25. It is, of course,understood that the support 2711V mayhave any desired shape and may, ifdesired, rest `directly on the floor.

f The support 24 is provided with two oppositely located lugs-26 and 21to which are fastened `in anyconvenient manner leaf springs 28 and 29respectively. These springs are substantially equal and symmetricallyarranged with regard to thel axis passing through the pivots 20 and 2l,

so that the springs 28and 29 continuously tend4 tofmove the cross-shapedmember I1 and thereby also ythe play board I0 into and to hold the same.

in such aposition that the play board I0 is not laterallvinclinedrelative to the table 25.

" the member I1 about the axis passing through order .to enable theplayer or players to tilt..

Pivotally connected to each end ofi the play board l by means of pivots3 2 and 33 is a Inan-I ually operable lever 34 and 35 respectively. Eachlever has associated therewith two abutments 36a, 362) and 31a, 31hwhich limit the angle over which these levers can -be moved'llilachlever" has furthermore associated therewith aspring 38 and 39respectively, `of which the spring 33 continuously urges Athe lever 34to 4abut the abutment 36h` as indicated in dot-dash lines in Figure 5.Similarly, but in diametrically oppositel arrangement, the spring 39continuously urges the lever 35 into abutment with: -the abutment, 31h.

Each of the levers 34 land 35 has a'nose 34a and 35a eachof which isadapted y.to cause its lower surface to engage the upper surface of thecross-Y shaped member I1. Howeveig'the arrangement is such lthat at oneand the,L same time the lower surface of only one no'se cari engage theupper surfaceloi the cross-shaped memberY l1, while the` other noseoccupies a position on one side of the cross-shaped member. This isclearly illustrated in Figure 6 in which the left hand side of the boardI0 is upiwhile `the right hand side of the board is down. 'VWhile inthis position the left hand side of the fboar'd cannot beimoved fartherdownwardly,4 it can, howeverbe movedgupw'ardly with the result' that'the right han'dend'of the board can be lowered further. Thus, byswingingeither lever 34 orv 35 in the verticalplane, tl'i'e b oard can bev`til-'ted longitudinalll'yfl seas'4 to in` crease the angle ofmclinationjoverf that shown in, Figure 6. Simultaneously, de'si'red theboard canbe tiltedvjlaterally byv the Vlshapedarms 33er 31':-` A

` If instead of the varrangement fof Figure 6, it is desired to have theleft side of tlieb'oard lower than the rightsidegt is merelynecessary:to-v swing the lever 3'4 from its` dot-dash positionl inj Figure 5'into;its full line pcsitionA of; Figure 5 and then' to swing the lever 34downwardly. As a result thereof, the nose 35awillnclear the'jsi'da ofthe .cross-shaped member 11,. andQ asfsoon this happens, the spring39,"wil1 bring-the 'ng-s?V 35a into alignment with ytheadjacent'iportion' of; the member H, thereby" automatical'ly'z `blockinga return'of the .righi-hand end or theboardlll into the position showninligure 6 untilwthe leveri- 3,5fisV shifted laterally by hand.

Referring to the particularexample shown in'L the drawing, the gamemaybe `played asffollows? It may be assumed thatl thev board-'l0 isbeing held( by one or both players in the position shown inFigure 2, andthat a ballis" placed inV ,the slight: depression 4"lll provided at ,thecenter of the board I0. It may further be assumed thatthejplayer1 'atthe ie'ftside; of. beard m, which maybe veauejatrle;

first player,` isgoing to startl the game withrthe y'"'Ilie' intention'`to. get the ball into'lthegal AI2 other, player, whichmaybe. c al1ediplayer, willY try toSl'fQD ,the bailbeiore it" r'eaci ieVS'- the goalQlZby causingthe ball to vget caught any onebifvtheobstacles,I`2al|2b,Hlc'lor 2d actuating, ther Dreef 4 this end, the rst player grasps thehandles 30a and 30h, whereas the second player grasps the lever 35. Thesecond player now swings the lever 35 so as to bring the nose 35a out ofalignment with the adjacent ridge of the cross-shaped member I1 andswings the lever up and down, while the first player by actuating theV-shaped arm 30'through the handles 30a andv 30b'ti1ts the board l0laterally. In other words, the second player or the player on thedefensive tilts the board longitudinally, while the rst player orL'player on theA offensive tilts the board laterally.

It should be noted that the noses 34a and 35a associated withthe levers34 and 35 are preferably so dimensioned that, once one nose is in itseiective blocking position, the board is slightly longitudinallyinclined downward toward the player on the defensive, so that the ballwill aldirectly on the oor.

ways have the tendency to roll toward the player on the defensive. Itis, therefore, the object of the player on the defensive to effect aquick longitudinal tilting movement when the ball is` in front of anobstacle open toward the player on the offensive` such as the obstacles12a, I2b, I2c and l2d. When the ball is caught in one of theseobstacles', the direction of moving` the ball is re-v versed, i. e. therst player becomes the player on the defensive, and the second playerbecomes the player' on the offensive with the aim to bring the ball intothe goal I l. Therefore, the lever 34V is now unblocked by swinging itlaterally and then pressing it downwardly whereupon the leverautomaticallymoves into its blocking position.v The boardv is nowinclined so that the lower end is adjacent the iirst player, and theplay may be continued in the manner described above but in reversedirection. When a goal is made, the play will again be started from thecenter, whereas, when no goal is made and the ball is stopped by oneofthe obstacles, the course of the ball may be reversed from the laststop or Whatever rules. may beagreed upon. j

It is, of course, understood, that the present in? vention by no means,limited to the specific, construction illustrated in the drawings butalso, comprises any modifications within thevscope of= the appendedclaims. For instance, if desired, the support 24 maybe provided withlegs to. rest` Furthermore, the shape` of the play board may be oval orof any other. configuration. Also the obstacles may be of anydesiredtype, or may even be so arranged as vto light up when hit, or to.actuate any desired typeV of signal.

What I claim is:

1. A tiltable ball game table comprising in comf bination a playingboard, obstacle means arranged in spacedrelationship on said board,supporting means for said board, connecting means manually operablemeans into the path vof said.

abutment means to thereby .limit the upvvard'fr tilting movement of oneend of said boards 1dH second means being shiftable manually aga'ih'stthe thrust of said yielding means and out of the I path of saidlabutment means to VVallow"further upward tilting movement of said `oneend.- v

2. A tiltable game table comprising in combination, a board, rstobstacle means arranged in spaced relationship on said board and adaptedto catch and stop a ball in its movement from one end to the other endof said board but not vice versa, second obstacle means arranged inspaced relationship on said board but effective in a direction oppositeto the direction of effectiveness of said rst obstacle means, supportingmeans for supporting said board, joint means connecting said supportingmeans with said board so as to allow swinging movement of said boardlaterally and longitudinally, first tilting means operatively connectedto said board for tilting said board longitudinally only, second tiltingmeans operatively connected to said board and' operable simultaneouslywith, but independently of said first tilting means for tilting saidboard laterally only, thereby making interference of one tiltingmovement by the other tilting movement impossible, and blocking meansconnected to said first tilting means and normally preventing movementof said board into a horizontal plane, said rst tilting means beingoperable manually to move said blocking means into an ineffectiveposition to thereby allow movement of said board into a horizontalplane.

3. A tiltable game table comprising in combination, a board, firstobstacle means arranged in spaced relationship on said board and adaptedto stop a ball moving from one end of said board to the opposite endthereof, second obstacle means arranged in spaced relationship on saidboard but effective in opposite direction to the direction ofeffectiveness of said rst obstacle means, supporting means for saidboard, universal joint means connecting said board with said supportingmeans, rst means for eiecting tilting movement of said board only in thelongitudinal direction thereof, second means operable simultaneouslywith said first means but independently thereof for tilting said boardlaterally only, thereby preventing interference of said longitudinaltilting movement by said lateral tilting movement and vice versa, andmeans movably connected to said board and operable to move into thelongitudinal tilting path of said board to thereby prevent tiltingmovement of said board into a horizontal plane.

4. A tiltable game table comprising in combination, a board, obstaclemeans arranged in spaced relationship on said board so as to prevent aball from moving in a straight line from a point at one end of saidboard to a straightly opposite point at the other end of said board,

supporting means for said board, means connectingsaid supporting meansto said board so as to allow independent tilting movements of said boardsimultaneously in longitudinal direction and transverse thereto,manually operable means connected to said board for tilting said boardin longitudinal direction thereof, abutment means operatively connectedto said manually operable means and movable into an effective positionfor limiting the longitudinal tilting movement of said board to apredetermined minimum angle relative to a horizontal plane, saidabutment means being adapted selectively to be moved into an ineffectiveposition and yielding means in operative engagement with said abutmentmeans and` operable automatically to move said abutment means intoeffective position in response to a predetermined tilting movement ofsaid board relative to said horizontal plane.

5. A tiltable game table comprising in combination, a board, obstaclemeans arranged in spaced relationship on said board, supporting meansfor said board, an intermediate member arranged between said board andsaid support, said intermediate member being pivotally connected to saidboard and said supporting means so as to allow longitudinal as well aslateral tilting movement of said board, iirst handle means associatedwith the ends of said board and operable to eiect longitudinal tiltingmovement only of said board, second handle means arranged adjacent saidrst handle means but operable independently thereof and connected tosaid intermediate member for eiecting lateral tilting movement only ofsaid board, and means arranged in the longitudinal tilting path of saidboard to maintain said board at a minimum of inclination in thelongitudinal direction thereof with regard to a horizontal plane,thereby preventing said board from being tilted into a horizontal plane.

JAMES B. RISHEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis :patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 414,986 Motter Nov. 12, 1889884,605 McEvoy Apr. 14, 1908 1,768,016 Walker June 24, 1930 1,840,203Kimball g Jan. 5, 1932 2,117,080 Conover May 10, 1938

